UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

EVANSVILLE, Ind., March 21 (UPI) -- An Indiana woman who lost the diamond from her engagement ring years ago said the jewel was returned to her by a technician who found it in her old printer.

Christi Hansen of Evansville said she wore the ring every day for 13 years until the half-carat marquis diamond disappeared, and she searched everywhere for the jewel -- even in several bags of trash -- to no avail, WFIE-TV, Evansville, Ind., reported Thursday.

Hansen said the diamond had been missing for more than four years and her husband bought her a replacement ring. She never thought she would see the diamond again.

However, Wayne Sutton, a technician with Alpha Laser, found the missing diamond while working on Hansen's old work printer.

"I was just looking and it was like right in here," Wayne said. "I thought it was a piece of dust or something, piece of paper, but I was blowing it around and trying to get it out and it wouldn't move. I just grabbed it and I was looking at it and was like, 'this looks like a diamond."

Christi said she was overjoyed to get the diamond back.

"I don't know what to think, what to feel. I just, I couldn't believe it, what he was showing me," Christi said.

Wayne said he was happy to return the stone.

"It's going down in my memory bank as the number one best time at work ever," Wayne said.

Man seeks to remove tattooed face ads

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, March 21 (UPI) -- An Alaska man who changed his name to Hostgator Dotcom said he wants to sell tattoo space on his body to get rid of his facial tattoo ads.

Dotcom, 32, who changed his name from Billy Gibby in 2009, said he wants to get rid of the company logos he had tattooed on his face to raise money for his five children, The Huffington Post reported Thursday.

The 32-year-old, who starting selling tattoo space on his face in 2007 for $1,000 to $300, before later dropping the price to $75, said he is willing to sell tattoo space on his body to raise money to remove his facial tattoos.

"I'm trying to get rid of the ones on my face," he said. "I regret them because I only did them because of my mental illness."

The man currently has 24 tattoos on his face representing various companies, including pornographic websites.

Airport scan finds sword in cane

WASHINGTON, March 21 (UPI) -- The Transportation Security Administration said a woman didn't know her cane contained a sword until she went through an X-ray machine at a Washington airport.

The TSA said the machine picked up something strange about the woman's cane Monday at Washington Dulles International Airport and officers discovered the knob unscrewed to reveal a sword, WUSA-TV, Washington, reported Thursday.

TSA officials said the woman had purchased the cane at an antique store and was unaware of the concealed weapon. She was allowed to continue on to her flight -- without the cane.

Hospital to display 'mystery skeleton'

OTTUMWA, Iowa, March 21 (UPI) -- A skeleton stored away for decades in a closet at an Iowa hospital set to be demolished will be sent to the University of Iowa Medical Museum, officials said.

Suzie Wood, executive director of development at Ottumwa (Iowa) Regional Health Center, said crews discovered the skeleton in a basement closet while cleaning out the 88-year-old facility last year in preparation for its upcoming demolition. The skeleton -- dubbed "Mr. Bones" -- is believed to have been stored there for 70 to 80 years, the Ottumwa Courier reported Thursday.

"He has all his teeth, his toes, his fingers and his vertebrae -- even his cartilage is still attached," Wood said.

"I contacted the Sisters (of Humility), who have their archives of information on the hospital in Davenport," Wood said. "They have archives and archives of photos and testimonials, but they have no record of him at all."

Wood said Mr. Bones is believed to have been donated to the hospital as a teaching tool in 1937 or 1938. She said not much else is known about the skeleton.

Mr. Bones will be on display at the Ottumwa Regional Health Center before it is shipped off to the University of Iowa Medical Museum in April.

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